


Dreaming of Freedom

by CallMeLex



Category: One Piece
Genre: Akashi and Shinrai are Marines, Akashi and Shinrai are best friends, Akashi is the main character, Akashi is the shittiest protag ever, Angst, Character Development, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Government Conspiracy, M/M, Mentions of self-loathing, One Piece magical bullshit, Shinrai Really Likes Guns, Violence, Worldbuilding, ambiguous morals, and she's very sassy, backstories, but this is one piece what do you expect, graphic depictions of anxiety, i'm not sorry at all, mental issues, mentions of depression, mentions of fucked up slavery bullshit, new islands, pirate attacks, pirates being pirates, there's death and things, this is just a whole lot of bullshit but I promise you'll at least kind of like it, this is one piece and they have human auctions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-03-19 12:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeLex/pseuds/CallMeLex
Summary: Akashi grew up in a lawless town.She grew up without the oppression of a sieged Island - no pirates, no marines, no revolutionaries ... grew up with the knowledge that Aster had always been and probably forever will be a place where the strong take advantage of the weak and morals are but a myth.She grew up feeling caged and suffocated and like she would never be free again.But she wanted that.  She wanted to be free again, wanted to be strong.If becoming a marine gets her to freedom faster?  Well ... what's one more step in a marathon?





	1. Prologue: The Preface to My Life

 

**[Kanna]** **Akashi**

**18 years old**  
**Female**  
**Pansexual**

**"You can't live up to the expectations set by other people."**

****

  

* * *

 

 

**Prologue: The Preface to My Life**  

 

I grew up in Aster - an autumn island in the Grand Line, but I was born somewhere else. I don't really remember where it was specifically, or what it was called, but I do remember that it was a spring island in paradise. I wish I could remember more from my birthplace, it would have helped a lot as I grew up ... to remember more than the bad things, more than those precious few good memories tainted by pain and fear and devastation. To know what it must have been like to live care-free and simple as children are supposed to.

Because you see, Aster was an island that had been in a constant state of civil war for so long that even the natives had forgotten why, and eventually, all anyone ever did was kill, fight, and steal, just to survive. Aster, for all intents and purposes, was a lawless land where everyone was involved in  _something_.  It was never "legal" as far as the World Government's concerned, but that's just the way things were.

Aster had always been infested with the lowlifes of the world, so it had been no surprise that, once you've landed and stayed in Aster for longer than a month, it was estimated that you won't ever leave.  Wheather that's because you've gone and got yourself killed, found that you like the way we live and want to live that way yourself, or wind up in a situation that means life or death, well ... it's happened often enough.  You really shouldn't have been surprised.

And sometimes, when outsiders  _did_ stop at the ports - pirates, merchants, drifters, the occasional marine even - they always wound up being one of two kinds of people ... and all of them liked to talk about things.  Things that people like me - the ones smart enough to watch and  _listen_ \- would overhear.

I'd hear all about how  _dirty_ this place was; how ruthless the people were; I'd hear sometimes, how they thought that only  _idiots_ could to live in such a revolting place _as if any of us really had much of a choice_.  I'd hear, occasionally, how some of them  _liked it_.  I'd hear them talk about how much they loved the idea of an island with no regard to the legalities of the rest of the world an that's what they'd been  _looking for_ , this was the place that they would thrive and live and finally be able to  _be themselves_.  

It was _disgusting_.

I'd hear all of these things, listen to all of these people ... and I decided that I  _hated_ them.  I hated these people, these  _beasts_ , these revolting creatures that had no trouble finding a place to slide into, these beings that  _loved_ preying on the weak, the ones that would take advantage of the strong and sometimes even outwit the ones they couldn't hide behind.  

And growing up as an orphan in that place, I learned quickly to avoid them even if it was hard to do at times.  As I grew, I learned.  I learned a lot of things, but one of the things that stand out the most is learning that spending any amount of time around those kinds of people left you feeling suddenly like you've lost a part of yourself.  

I think, though, that it was only because I knew what life was like outside of Aster - as vague and tainted as those memories were - that I felt so suffocated by it all.  I knew how not everyone was bad and not all people would kill you for a handful of cash or a case of booze.  I knew, even as a child, that not all people in the world are selfish and greedy and hateful ... but sometimes I hoped I could forget.  I wished I could just be like everyone else, but not, looking back, I'm glad that I didn't.

I'm so glad that I could remember the  _before_ \- as little and tainted as those memories were - glad that I had the sense of self to not become like the rest of them.  I knew, even as a little girl, that I was Akashi Kanna, and I was my own person, not to be bossed around by someone else.  

And I used to get into so much trouble growing up because of that. I had never wanted or needed to listen to anyone else.  If I wanted to smile and laugh and make fun of all the others who were too weak to stand up for themselves, then that's what I did.  If I wanted to run around town beating up other kids because they said something to me that I didn't like, I would damn well do it.  And if I wanted to get into fights that I wouldn't win, just because of misplaced pride or arrogance, well, I did that too.

Becuase of my shit attitude and constant need to prove myself, I didn't really make allies, much less friends.  And honestly, I have to admit that wouldn't change it, even now.  I wouldn't then, and I still won't, let anyone take advantage of me.  I refuse to let anyone dictate how I should live my life, I refuse to be a puppet to someone else and I will always fight for myself because yeah, I may like someone, even love them, but I know for a fact that I will always love myself more.

And sure, my way of life?  It's not an easy one, it's not something I recommend for the insecure or weak-willed, because Aster, just like the rest of the world, is full of crooks, delinquents, thugs, and everything in between.  There  _is_ no being independent or having free will if you're caught by someone stronger than you. You learn who's strong and whose weak, who to avoid and who to approach, you learn how to tell if someone is more willing to give you the change in their pockets or rob you blind at first opportunity. 

I learned, very early on, that if I wasn't quick enough, sneaky enough,  _strong enough_ ... well, I really wasn't much of anything. 

If I didn't know how to kill, how to  _survive_ , I wasn't going to live for very long, wasn't cut out for what the world had in store for me.  Aster, as shitty and horrible as it was, taught me very important lessons, and each one holds a lot of value to this day. It was a very real, very  _harsh_ reality, and I, all of 18 years old, appreciate those lessons as I begin my next journey - into the Marines this time.

 


	2. Childhood Arc: If You Let Them, They Will Hurt You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi met some pirates ... she decides she really doesn't like them.

**Here's the first real chapter to _Dreaming of Freedom_**

**Enjoy (:**

* * *

**Childhood Arc: If You Let Them, They Will Hurt You**

 

She'd left home again, running out in the fields and hills that surrounded the overly-large house, too big for even the seven people she lived with.  She didn't like being forced to do those stuffy things her two older sisters and brother did; didn't like being told to wear those ugly frilly dresses or eat in that uncomfortable, but proper way.  She was young and didn't need to know those things, she thought, those stuffy manners were for adults and she was the youngest in the family! She liked to go outside and explore, especially on days like this one.  

It was midday and the sun was out, shining brightly despite the threatening clouds in the distance, and there was a gentle breeze that danced around in the grass and leaves. People bustled around, as people did, bantering over prices in the market, the old man that owned the flower shop was yelling after three giggling children, but he wasn't angry.

The old couple that owned the only bakery were fighting again, but they weren't really all that mad anymore and their son was looking on in exasperation as he stocked their only display, as he always did.  Everything was as it always was, full of the happy, the grumpy, and the mischievous. Then, there were strangers at the port, and the locals greeted them brightly, as they always did, smiling and waving and not minding the black flag or threatening scowls. Didn't pay any mind when the strangers walked forward with loaded guns and unsheathed swords; the adults didn't notice them ... but one child did.

She was young, small enough to fit inside one of the empty crates laying by the produce stand, and had yet to lose all of the roundness that came with a child's face. She watched, from the top of the tallest hill where she'd been exploring all that day, as the strange men started to get loud. She watched but didn't really understand, as the tallest man, the only one wearing a cloak, grabbed the arm of one of the stall-runners and started to yell. She watched on, as the strangers started to laugh and the merchant began to argue; watched, as he was thrown to the ground and shot by the stranger that started it, and flinched at the echoing sound.

She could hear the screams and see the villagers running and she was scared. And just as suddenly as the day went from normal to bad, the bad went to horrific.

A lone child, stood at the top of the highest hill, watched as the clouds grew gray with rising smoke and suddenly falling rain. Watched on, in a detached sort way, as the pirates started to corral the villagers like livestock. Her eyes clouded over with terror, watching as blades, glinting sharply with the midday sun, sliced through crowds; as guns were fired at men, women, and children and dark splotches stained the ground and the sides of buildings. She stood there, trembling, as the strangers, shadowed and hunched, grabbed at cowering figures huddled together in an aggressive way. Some were thrown to the ground, others shoved toward the hulking shadow of the ship.

She wanted to close her eyes against the falling rain, but she couldn't look away. She could still hear the screams, hear the clanging of metal and the sounds of guns being fired. She was forced to watch, hair whipping about her face and leaving stinging marks across pale skin, as the dark figures, shadowed in the sudden downpour, started to set things on fire. Buildings, still with people in them, were set ablaze and she could hear their screams, smell the ash and burning wood. The rain, heavy against her shoulders and cold on her skin, seemed to ignore the fires, for they never seemed to dwindle.

Tears were streaming down her pale, terrified face, but she didn't notice. She was trembling, scared and cold, but she didn't care - she could only watch.

She couldn't look away from the village, from her  _home_ , as it was  _laid to waste_  in front of her - not from the pirates, whose captain brought the storm and death, not from the figures on the ground that wouldn't move nor from the burning buildings that refused to crumble. She couldn't look away because she was far too occupied trying to breathe again.

And suddenly, she could feel. Feel her face burn with terror and disbelief, feel that her eyes, wide with horror and confusion, were damp and achy from tears she didn't remember shedding. She could feel the rain, cold and painful against her exposed skin; feel her trembling limbs as they gave out on her and she fell to the ground, curling in on herself and lost all sense of time.

She wept and screamed and cried and cursed. She yelled to the heavens, called out in attempt to make the gods hear her,  _begged_  to some deity she didn't know if she believed in to l _et this all be a nightmare, a terrible, horrible dream_.

She shook and trembled and cried like that, letting her tears, salty and hot against wind-burned cheeks, mix in with the cold rain. She struggled to breathe, struggled to muster the strength to even put her head against her knees ... until eventually, everything went dark and she, thankfully,  _blissfully_ , couldn't feel anymore. 

* * *

The first thing she knew when she could feel again, was that her wrists and ankles were achy and bound by a rough kind of rope. Her fingers tingled and she couldn't feel her feet, but she knew she was laying on her side. Everything seemed to hurt and she could barely hear the sounds of sniffling and the occasional shift against the floor she laid against. There was muffled crying and someone talking in low tones, but she didn't know what they were saying.

She tried to open her eyes, but everything was so dark. She started to get scared again. She didn't like the dark, it always made her feel like the walls were closing in on her and her chest would cave in from some unseen weight. She felt too small and too weak and she hated it. Everything started to go fuzzy in her head then; she was breathing too fast, too shallow, and her body shook, muscles and nerves spasming with terror and all she could hear was the too-loud, too-fast, thudding of her heart.

And then there was someone hovering over her - she could feel their body heat too close, too hot, too heavy - and she tried to back away, tried to worm herself further against the wall to her back even though she knew it was pointless.  

But then the person was humming, it was low and smooth, if a little raspy, and kinda familiar. She peeked out from behind wine-colored hair, barely finding the slim shape of a woman kneeling by her head. She lifted her head a little bit further, hoping to see the woman's face, but it was still so dark. She laid there, shivering, as the woman scooted slowly forward.  She huddled further into herself, trying to avoid the hands that were coming at her from the black, trying to keep herself from being touched, to realize that all of this was real and not a nightmare. 

But the lady didn't seem to care and firmly, gently, grabbed her wrists and loosened the rope a little - just enough for her hands to get that tingly feeling from sudden blood flow.  She then grabbed at the girls' elbows - still firmly gentle in that strange way her mother always used to correct her manners - and helped her sit up against the wall.  

She didn't know this lady, didn't understand why she was there; she didn't know what she was supposed to do in a situation like this and that scared her. Her mother always said that there was nothing proper manners and respect couldn't fix ... did that mean she had to be polite to this strange person? Was she supposed to follow this lady's orders? Her thoughts were interrupted again before she could go into another panic by the lady clearing her throat.

"I'm Emiko, what's your name?" Emiko's voice was rough like she'd not had anything to eat or drink in a while, and she had the same accent as the people back home, so the child didn't think telling her name would be a bad thing. 

"A-Akashi," it was stuttered and quiet and could barely be heard over the other sounds in the area, but Emiko still heard it. 

"Hi Akashi-chan," Emiko said in that smooth, soft way all the ladies used on children, "do you know what happened?" 

The question made Akashi pause, made her flinch back against the wall again and draw her shaking knees up to her chest and between bound arms.  She peered over the torn fabric of her dress up at Emiko and bit her lip hard enough for it to hurt. 

"It - I was o-on the hill," she muttered, gripping the torn fabric at her shins in her fists, "a-and the, the strangers they-" she felt her throat close up and her eyes burn and that heavy feeling was back in her chest and stomach, "everything was ... it's a-all g-gone."

It was stuttered in a whisper as Akashi felt tears fall silently down her cheeks, but she didn't look away from the Emiko's kneeling figure.  She tried to keep her tears silent, tried to keep from crying in front of company, mother always said to keep emotions for when you were alone, but she couldn't stop the trimmers from wracking her small body. 

And then Emiko slid into the spot beside Akashi, sitting in a way that Akashi's mother would disapprove of, and sighed. 

"I'm sorry, Akashi-chan, that you had to see it all," Emiko sounded tired like she'd not slept in ages.  Akashi thought Emiko sounded old then - like father sounded when he would talk about business with mother. 

"Do you - where are we, Emiko-san?" Akashi asked, trying her hardest to remember what happened after everything went dark. 

"Well," Emiko said, and Akashi could hear the frown and fear and hate in her voice, "We're on the pirate's ship." 

The whispered confession sent a sharp, painful sort of fear through Akashi.  She was on a  _pirate ship_.  She was on a ship with the same people that  _destroyed_  her _home_ , the people that burned buildings and shot people and swung around gleaming swords. 

All the sudden, she started to feel that suffocating, twitchy feeling again and it was getting hard to breathe.  Her head felt light and heavy all at once, like she was floating and drowning at the same time and her hands clutched at her dress, tearing it even more. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and her mind didn't know what to think.  Everything was too big, too close, too heavy, and the air felt too thin, not enough for her to breathe. There was a throbbing too, in the back of her head.  It felt like she'd hit it on something, like she'd fell and there was a bump, but she didn't fall and the ache was behind her eyes too. 

Time passed like that - her trying to breathe, trying to figure out how to think again, trying to ignore the pain in her head ... until suddenly it stopped.  

There was still that heavy, overwhelming feeling like something was sitting on her chest, but she could breathe again, she could feel and hear and think. And somehow, she thought distantly, she'd ended up lying curled up in a ball with her head on Emiko's lap at the same time. Emiko was running a hand through her hair and the other one rubbing patterns in her upper arm while humming that strangely familiar song again and Akashi didn't know what she was supposed to do.  So she sat up and leaned against the wall, trying to keep her breath steady. 

"S-sorry," she muttered, trying - and failing - to keep a blush from spreading across her cheeks, but Emiko just smiled softly. 

"You don't have to be sorry Akashi-chan," Emiko said, sliding an arm around her shivering form, "it's okay to be scared."

They sat like that for a while, silent and thoughtful and scared, until there was a sudden all around silence and a bright light at the other end of the room. There was a man there, holding up a light in one hand and a ring of keys in the other. 

The light was bright and shadowed the man's face and Akashi thought he was terrifying. 

She knew then, that she would not like living on this ship.  She knew, as soon as the man's creepy smile swept over all the huddled figures, that she wouldn't be going home anytime soon, and that, she thought, hurt more than anything this man could ever do to her. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you liked it, leave a kudos and comment, I'd love to know what you think.


	3. Childhood Arc: Bar Brawls With Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grown men shouldn't get drunk in the middle of the day and pick fights with 8-year-old girls.

 

 **********_Childhood Arc: Bar Brawls With Children_ **

**__ **

 

"... wha's a kid like you doin' inna place like'is?" 

Akashi turned her head to the side toward the slurred voice, barely able to keep the tray in her hands from falling to the floor as another patron stumbled into the table by her side.

The man was very obviously drunk, only upright because he sat with his back against the wall and his weight was being held up against the back of his sideways chair. His bloodshot eyes were beady and unfocused and his hair was that limp, greasy kind that seemed to blend in with the stained walls.

"Well, sir," she says, a small smile crept up into childishly round cheeks, "I'm working!"

She slid the last pint of ale on the serving tray in her hand on the table, smiling mirthfully as she turned back to the room. She bustled around, handing out drinks and taking orders, all the while ignoring the man's irritable snarking that seemed to get louder and louder the more she ignored him.

That was a mistake.

At one point, Akashi was near the man again.  She was on her way back to the bar and had to walk past him to get through the crowded room, but that ended up being a bad idea.

When she turned past his table, the man staggered to his feet, making his chair scrape shrilly against the floorboards. He lumbered forward, his shadow loomed over Akashi for a split second, casting her in dark.

When she turned, eyes wide and mouth opening to ask a question, the man grabbed the back of her faded red t-shirt and yanked her back so hard the serving tray clattered to the floor and her back hit the edge of a table. She fell, back arching from the pain, and slammed into the floor.

Her head smacked against the wood, a cry escaping her lips as white danced across her vision. She laid there for a minute, trying to get her thoughts together, but suddenly a heavy foot slammed down on her hand, fingers caught between booze soaked floor and moody boots and she could barely make sense of what was happening.

Her head hurt and her fingers throbbed and she didn't know why this man was being so mean, but she had to get her hand back. So she swung her leg out in a wide arc, her heart lept in her throat when her foot latched onto the leg of a nearby stool.

She clutched her muscles and slung the stool as hard as she could. It left the floor with a screech and slammed into the man with a creaking, splintering sound and made him stumble back and groan in pain. He toppled for a moment, hand flying to his back where the chair hit and splintered into his skin.

Akashi snatched her hand to her chest as fast as she could to her chest once free and scrambled up on her feet, wobbling a bit as the blood rushed to her head too fast. There was a sudden silence as they both just stood there, but then the man tipped back against the side of the booth and fell face-first on the floor, a sickening crunch echoed through the bar as his nose broke.

"You know mister, you should really be nicer to your servers!" she snapped, trying to glare as strongly as her eight-year-old face would let her. She crouched down, cradling her injured had to her chest and snagged the tray from the floor.

She stomped her way over to the man, digging her heels in as viciously as she could on the man's hand as she did, and crouched down to look him in the eyes, "Please try not to be so rude to us, we work really hard!" It wasn't shouted or anything, but her face was drawn tight and her eyes burned with embarrassment and anger.

With another scowl, she swung her other leg over the prone man and stood, stomping her way back the bar, trying her best to ignore the way everyone was staring. The serving tray was clutched tightly underneath her injured hand's arm as the other came up to cradle the hand more securely to her chest. Akashi kept her eyes forward, refusing to show how much the stares unnerved her.

It didn't stop her from grumbling her breath, though, as she tried to ignore the throbbing in her skull and fingers. Both of which seemed to get more and more painful with each step and beat of her heart. Instead, she tried to listen to people in the bar - as it'd finally gotten loud again.

Her shoulders loosened a bit as she felt the stares fall off her. She let herself sigh and listen to the patrons as she always did. She overheard one of the man's friends laugh and jeer at the fact he just got "beat up" by a little girl.

She tried not to react, but she couldn't quite keep the small, satisfied smirk from creeping up on her face.

"Don't let it get to yer head, kid," Jiro said, his voice rough from smoking.

Akashi's grin slid off her face, a pout replacing it almost immediately, " _Mou_ , Jiro-san," she whined, "I did good though!"

He snorted and rolled his gray eyes as he slid a bottle of sake over the counter, right between Old Man Toru's perched elbows, "the bastard's drunk off his ass, not like he's much of a challenge, brat."

She huffed and threw the serving tray on a nearby table and ducked under the counter to get behind the bar. She marched up beside Jiro, pointedly ignoring the glare he sent her, and jumped up to sit on the bar in front of him.

"Oh, let me  _live_ , old man!" she snatched a glass from a shelf over her head and jumped back down to the floor, snatching a bottle of whiskey from a low shelf as she stood, "It's not like you could've done better," she jeered, sticking her tongue out at him, ducking under the swipe he made at her head. Akashi didn't quite dodge the other hand that snatched the bottle and glass from her hands, though. 

Jiro pointed at the back room then, shoving her toward it, "Go do the fucking inventory if you're so good, then," he set the glass on the counter, pouring the whiskey in so fast that it sloshed over the brim on one side just a little bit, "I ain't gonna deal with you fightin' with none of my customers, today."

She opened her mouth, ready to protest, but the look on his face was really mocking and just waiting for her to throw a tantrum and she knew that she pushed him he'd have the perfect excuse to make her go home or fire her and she really didn't want that. Jiro had been against hiring her from the start and if she messed up now - not even a week into the job! - she'd for sure not be able to find any other place desperate enough to hire her.

So she did what she was told, grumbling under her breath about hypocrisy and double standards (because Jiro was notorious for fighting his employees and patrons alike if they pissed him off) out of earshot.

She made her way into the back room, one hand still firmly anchored to her chest, and made a face in the doorway. There were crates and boxes and bags filled with all kinds of things - alcohol, food, glasses, and uniforms. She tried her best to sort through it all as much as she could, making sure to mark everything right on the papers and put the things she counted on one of the room or on the shelves where they belong.

It was a long process, and by the time she was done, she'd missed lunch and it was almost time for dinner. She was supposed to have been done for the day just before lunch, she thought, but she knew that she wouldn't have been able to leave anyway because Jiro hated for things to be left half-finished.

Eventually, Akashi finished her task.  It had been tedious and she was hungry and kinda tired, so she grabbed all of the papers filled with numbers and products and walked out of the back room.  She'd expected to go straight to Jiro, wanted to tell him that she was done and she really didn't ever want to do inventory again, but he wasn't behind the bar. 

There was another man there instead, one that she'd never seen before and she didn't really know what she was supposed to do but figured that if Jiro wasn't behind the bar or on the floor than he must be in his office.  

Akashi clutched the stack of papers in her good hand (the other one was kinda numb now and the swelling in her fingers had gone down hours ago but they still throb sometimes) and tried to slide around the strange guy, but he stepped in her way and just ...  _stared_  at her.  

He was tall, really tall, and had dark hair and dark eyes.  His face was weirdly blank, but Akashi thought that it was probably because of that really big scar that ran down the side of his face from one timple to the edge of where his jaw met his chin.  

He's kind of terrifying, she thought, but she didn't cower either because he didn't look like he wanted to hurt her.

The man's black eyes slowly move from her eyes to the stack of paper clutched in her fist and raised one of his eyebrows, "What's a kid like you doin' back here," he asked, voice gruff and deep and little slurred from the scar pulling at his lips.  

"Um," she shifts on her feet, flexing her toes inside her boots, "I finished taking inva- invon-  _inventory_  like Jiro-san asked me to," she said it really fast and tried to keep a blush off her cheeks at his stare. 

Eventually, he just sighed and mumbled something under his breath and moved to the side, making a gesture with his hand, "Well go on then."

She gave him a startled, but wide smile and rushed toward Jiro's office.  The place was as cluttered as the storeroom had been; a small bin with balled up paper and other trash, an ashtray full of half-smoked cigarettes sitting on top of one of the many stacks of paperwork stacked haphazardly on the sides of the only desk, and a wall of ledgers and books on one side that Akashi was pretty sure was covered in dust. 

She stood in the doorway for a second, waiting for Jiro, who was lounging in his high-backed chair with a cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth, to look at her rather than the ceiling.  

He took a long drag, bringing up a calloused hand and plucked it from his lips as he released a ring of smoke.  He watched the smoke from the end of the cigarette raise for a moment before exhaling a cloud of his own.  He turned then, sitting up properly in his chair and faced Akashi. 

She gave a wide smile and rushed forward, not even flinching when the door slammed shut behind her.  She shoved the stack of papers in her hand out toward her boss, unbothered by his glare. 

"Finally done, brat?" His voice was dry and grating. 

"Yeah," she said as she placed the papers on his desk, "everything's been counted and labeled, Jiro-san."

"Good," he grunted, dragging a long inhale and holding it in for a second before releasing the smoke in a perfect ring, "now get out of here."

She gave a fleeting  _Bye, Jiro-san!_  as she left the office, not bothering to keep the relieved, if a little tired, sigh inside her chest. The day had been very long and Akashi was more than ready to get out and explore the island some more.

Unfortunately, she ran right into a very robust thug on her way out the door and he wasn't happy about that at all, "The fuck ya think yer doin' runt?!" he yelled as he tangled his fingers in her short hair, fisting around the strands to yank her back up off her feet.

" _Ow_ -!" she shrieked, her hands flew to the back of her head as she scraped her nails along the arm and wrist holding her.  She felt the warm, stickiness of blood just before the thug yelped and dropped her to the ground. 

"What the heck -" she started, clutching at her aching skull.  She stumbled up to her feet, but flinched back when the guy swung his fist at her head, "WHAT'D I EVER DO TO YOU?!"

He didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed the front of Akashi's shirt and punched her in the face.  She could feel the skin close to her eye, right by her temple, split open. The blood ran down her face; it got in her eye, in her mouth, on her clothes.  She could smell the sharp tang of iron and it was gross, but she had to ignore it.

She groaned anyway, her free hand reaching up to cup the side of her face, while the other hand curls into a fist around the man's wrist.  She wants to yell, to scream, to cry, but she knew that it wouldn't do any good, so she acts.

She swung her leg out and around, digging the top of her foot and toes into the back of his knee as hard as she could. He dropped her at the unexpected impact as his knee gave out.  He hits the ground hard, his ugly scowl turning into a disgusting grimace when the joint pops.  

Akashi ignored the sound and shook the man's hand from her shirt, jumping back out of the way as fast as she could.  She didn't run, though, instead, she lowered her hand, ignoring the way the blood in her eye makes her close it, and swung wildly, punching him in the face.

She didn't have enough force to break the thug's nose, but the smack of her fist against his eye was satisfying, as he screeched in pain.  He stood up then, his face twisted into that ugly scowl of his and he lunged.  

The thug reached out to grab Akashi, his yellowed teeth barred, "Who do'ya think ya are, bitch?!" he yells, his fist swinging out again to punch her, "Tryin'a fight me like ya got a chance!" 

Akashi ducked up under his arm, the wide swing left him open for her to shove against his large chest, "What do you think I'm gonna do when you go and attack me?!" she screams back, jaw clenching when his fist catches her shoulder, "I'm not gonna run away from a fight!"

He didn't give an answer, rather he brought his other hand in and slapped her with more force than someone his size had any right to, forcing Akashi to the ground, white dancing along her vision. She laid there for a second, panting and trying to make the pain go away. But the guy didn't care, and he slammed his booted foot right into her ribs, and she curled in on herself.

"That's fer runnin' int'a me, ya fuckin' bitch!" he was breathing heavy by this point and his eye was starting to swell, "Thinkin' ya can knock int'a me and not get beat?!"

She groaned, but shoved the leg away with a strength she thought she'd lost, and stumbled up on her feet. Akashi wasn't afraid of this guy, even though he's bigger and tougher than she is, he's still a man and men all have weaknesses.

"I wasn't trying to run into you, ya know," she swung her leg out again, toes tensed in her shoes, "and quit picking on kids!" she lands a solid kick to the guy's privates.  He fell to the ground with a keening sort of sound and Akashi thought that her busted eye and lip were totally worth hearing that sound.

But then, one of the man's friends - a short, stocky sort of man with short blond hair and watery blue eyes - rushed forward, "Takehiro!" he shouted, reaching out to grab Takehiro's arm and pull him up on his feet, "Let's get out of here," it was said in a low, hushed sort of tone as he glanced around at the gathered crowd.

The thug just groaned in pain as his friend dragged him away, ignoring Akashi and the people gathered around.  The crowd was laughing and jeering and poking fun at the two as they ran away.

"That's right!" Akashi yelled after them, "Run away!" 

She stood there, panting and glaring into the distance, watching them walk away.  She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and rubbed at the blood on her face, ignoring the way the cut stung when the rough fabric brushed over it and sank to her knees.  

 Akashi sat there for a while, catching her breath and letting the whole thing sink in, and eventually, she looked around.  The crowd was almost all gone now, and the sun was starting to set.  The orange sun was bright and reflected off something on the ground not too far from her. 

Moving slowly, cradling her ribs with one hand, Akashi reaches over to grab it.  It was a wallet - probably that thug's, now that she thought about it.  She opened it up and snickered as she finds a handful of cash and a few coupons in it, "What a loser," she said, smirking to herself. 

She ignored the way the expression pulled at her split lip and cut above her brow. Instead, she focused on getting up off the ground.  She eventually got to her feet and hobbled her way down the street toward her home.

Akashi knew that the fight would get around town, as things like this always get around in Aster, but Akashi really couldn't find it in herself to care at this point. She's got just over 1,500 beri and a total of 2,800 beri worth of coupons and that's almost as much as she makes at Jiro's Tavern in two weeks.

 _What a way to end a work day_ , Akashi thought,  _getting into a fight and getting money out of it at the same time - and not even from a bet!_

She limped down to the shore, a small smile on her face, and thought that maybe, just maybe, she could really get somewhere one day. She would have to save up money and get a lot stronger, but when she's got enough of both ... she'll leave and she'll be free again.

Because being free was the best feeling in the world and Akashi wanted nothing more than to feel free again.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:  
> During the Childhood Arc, if you can't tell, Akashi is a different age each chapter. Last chapter she was 6, being forcibly taken away from everything she ever knew and loved by a bunch of really shit pirates. This chapter she's like, 8 and is working in a shit bar in Aster.  
> There's a lot being left out right now, but I promise it's for a reason. The real plot with start with the next arc probably. 
> 
> Also note that 100 beri is about equal to 1 USD (or about 0.71 GBP or 0.81 euro). So 1.5K beri is like, $15 and 2.8K beri is $28. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading! If you liked it, comment below and tell me what you think! Kudos are also always appreciated. If you want faster updates and more information about the story in general, you can go to my wattpad account (lexisree) and the story is posted there as well.


	4. Interlude: Does This Count as Making Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi still works at Jiro's Tavern and definitely has favorites.

 

_**Interlude:  Does This Count As Making Friends?** _

_**** _

_**Jiro's Tavern** _ **inventory room looks kinda like this piece "Tavern" by Satibalzane on Deviantart that I found.**

**Think more cluttered, more booze, and a lot of boxes.**

 

It was late, the sky so dark it seemed to almost swallow the ocean where it met the horizon and Akashi mourned the loss of sleep (she had to get up early the next morning if she was going to catch the tide, she didn't want to fight over beached fish with the fishermen about who had the right to what, not again).  

She was finally finishing up counting inventory for the night even though she usually wasn't allowed to stay this late.  And sure, even on nights like tonight where she actually  _was_ allowed to stay well after the sun had set, she still wasn't really allowed on the floor - especially when it was so busy.  She can kinda understand that ... she wasn't small for her age, but she was still 9 okay, and there was like, a million people in there - but it was still  _boring_.

She  _liked_  serving things. If only to talk to the people that came to  _Jiro's Tavern_... or at least, the ones that would speak with her always had a lot of funny and weird stories.  Some of the other patrons didn't really talk to her or thought she was just an annoying kid, but they were all boring and didn't matter.

So, like any mischevious 9-year-old, Akashi did what she always does when she finishes a bit too late in the night and Boss Jiro is too occupied with the rush to kick her out; she serves. 

Akashi, with all the stealth of a child on a mission, slipped out from the back storage room - pointedly ignoring the way the door scapes loudly against the warn floorboards - with the smallest crate of booze clutched tightly in her arms against her stomach and chest.  

She uses the crate to push the little swinging door at the bar open and strides around the only other person behind the counter - the big guy with the scar on his face that she still hasn't learned the name of a year later - and all but marches her way toward the far end of the counter-space where fewer people sat.  

She let the crate drop to the floor with a muffled thud and grabbed a few bottles from a low shelf, stepping up on her stool to face some of her more regular visitors. 

There was Old Man Stan - Akashi didn't know if his name was  _actually_  Stan, but that's what everyone calls him - and he's got to be the oldest person she'd ever met in her life.  He was surprisingly tall with gangly limbs and puffy eyes with wrinkles around his eyes and mouth and he didn't have any hair except for a really bushy mustache.  He was also chronically cranky and didn't really like people, but he always had the best jokes and scared away the really crazy people and Akashi loved it.

He was talking with one of her absolute favorite people: Tanaka Jun.  Akashi knew with all the conviction of a child, that Jun-san was definitely one of the most interesting people in the entire world.  He had bright orange hair and matching eyes with an infectious sort of laugh.  He always had the best stories - full of fighting and funny jokes and strange people.  He was a sailor -  _not a pirate_ , he says - and goes on all different kinds of exciting adventures and Akashi wants to do that too, someday.

"Jun-san!" she exclaimed, clutching the bottles tightly in her fists, "You're back!"

Orange eyes slid from Old Man Stan's and met Akashi's, a wide smile spread across his face as he leaned on his elbow, "Well if it isn't Little Red!" he exclaimed, reaching over to ruffle Akashi's short hair. 

"Oh, come on!" she whined, trying to duck out of his reach, but she couldn't resist her own smile. 

"What, you can't take it?" he was laughing at her now, white teeth showing behind sea-chapped lips. 

"I can too!" Akashi cried, practically slamming a bottle of ale in front of him, "And I'm not little!"

His laugh was loud and warm and Akashi felt it more than she heard it, "Sure you're not, kid," he faced her fully now, turning his body completely toward the counter, "so what've you been up to while I've been away - not gettin' in too much trouble, I hope?"

Akashi actually rolled her eyes at him and leaned fully on the bar to reach the glass in front of the patron who just came up to the bar, "Jun-san," she said in a mock hurt voice, "it's almost like you think I  _try_  to get in trouble!"

"Well, to be fair, you kinda do, kid." He said, dodging out of the way at the bottle cork she threw at his head, not even blinking. 

Akashi pouted at him, "It's not like I  _mean_  to, Jun-san," Akashi complained, pulling the tap behind her to fill up the glass with beer, "everyone just seems to think I'm easy to pick on, and I don't even know  _why_ " she said, grumbling under her breath and sliding the now full glass to the patron who just grunted at her in thanks and walked away. 

Jun-san just laughed that big laugh of his, leaning forward on his elbows to support himself. 

"It's not funny, Jun-san!" she whined, pouting at the man. 

"Really, Jun-san," a smooth voice said to his left, "you shouldn't pick on small children." 

"Chie-san!" Akashi rushed out, a wide grin filling up her face.  

Sakamoto Chie was practically famous around town.  She was always dressed really nicely and had one of those elegant pipe things she smoked out of whenever she was deep in thought.  With long black hair that fell down in elegant waves and bangs that framed slightly narrowed brown eyes, Chie-san was one of the most beautiful and mysterious women Akashi had ever met.

The woman gave a small, beautiful smile that made her dark eyes shine in a way they usually don't, "Hello, Akashi-chan," she greeted, sliding into the stool on the other side of Jun-san, "you're not usually here this late."

And, even though it was really a question, Akashi answered her anyway, "I had to do inventory again, Chie-san," she glared down at the crate she was standing on, "there was more than usual so it took me longer," she glared harder at the crate, she hated it when she took too long to do her job.  Not because she felt inadiquite if she didn't do it fast enough, but she really didn't want to give Boss Jiro an actual reason to fire her.

Chie-san gave Akashi a small hum of understanding, but she didn't say anything, probably having already known. She always knew things. 

Jun-san heaved a sigh into his bottle, looking at the two girls with boredom, "Why is it always small talk with you two?" 

Chie-san was too dignified to roll her eyes like Akashi did, but she thought the slight raise of her -  _single_  - eyebrow ( _which_ , Akashi thought mournfully,  _was so cool, I wish I could do that_ ) was enough for Jun-san to understand how unimpressed she was. 

"Not everyone is as rude as you, Jun-san," Chie-san retorted with a scathing kind of mockery that only she could pull off, and Akashi snickered at Jun-san's equally as mocking affront.  

"It seems to me, Chie- _chan_ ," Jun-san said, ignoring the way her eyes narrowed at the more familiar honorific, "that you seem to think I don't have something as basic as  _common decency_."

"How astute of you, Jun- _kun_ ," she practically purred, leaning elegantly on the counter, propping her chin on the palm of her hand, taking a large inhale of her pipe-thing while she did, blowing the smoke into Jun-san's face right after, causing Akashi to laugh loudly.

Jun-san choked on his ale, waving a hand in front of his face dramatically, "Are you trying to kill me, woman?!"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Jun-san," she demurred, twisting sideways to lean elegantly on the counter, crossing her legs in a way that made her kimono slide open slightly to show smooth, pale skin of her knee and shin.

Jun-san went to say something again, likely snarky and just as funny, when Old Man Stan pointedly set his glass down on the bar with a bit more force than usual, "You two argue worse 'an a married couple," he grouched, shooting the two a disdainful look, "you'd think you'd've shut up when the brat laughed at 'cha."

"Ah, Old Man Stan," Akashi rushed out, hands twitching to reach out and snatch the pint glass from his white-knuckled grip, "please don't break the glass!"

There was a moment of silence, Akashi staring fixedly at the pint glass in the man's hand, before Jun-san's raucous laughter practically exploded from the pit of his stomach.  Chie-san smiled too, and Akashi flushed bright red, knowing for sure that they were laughing at her again. 

Old Man Stan just sighed and grumbled about loud youth and pushed his almost empty glass at Akashi to refill.  

_This_ , Akashi mused to herself,  _must be what it's like to have friends. What a nice thing ... friends._  She was smiling for the rest of the night and well into the next morning, having found that she rather liked the idea of having friends.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now, I suppose. A fun little interlude with mostly banter and no real plot because the next chapter is starting a new and kinda angst-heavy arc with actual plot significance.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments below.
> 
> If you want faster updates and more about the writing process/my rants about writing it, be sure to check this out on my wattpad (lexisree).


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